A Ludington Coast Guard rescue boat in Lake Michigan similar to the one snagged by an abandoned fishing net in 2013.MLive file photo

LUDINGTON, MI — The mid-morning lake water off Ludington was choppy last October as Petty Officer Kegan Thompson and three others in his Coast Guard rescue boat sped toward a disabled vessel on Lake Michigan.

As the team passed the large hydroelectric plant and reservoir south of town, something unexpected in the water yanked the boat to an abrupt halt.

After raising the boat’s twin outboard motors, the Coast Guard team found the propellers entangled in a floating polypropylene fishing net used for catching Great Lakes whitefish.

“None of us saw it because there were 4-to 5-foot waves at the time,” recalled Thompson. “We didn’t even notice until we were right on top of it.”

Luckily, Thompson’s crew was able to free their vessel after about 20 minutes and carry on with their mission, but other boaters have not been so lucky.

Last year, the waters off Mason and Oceana counties experienced a rash of vessel entanglements after more than a dozen abandoned trap fishing nets began snagging boats in Lake Michigan between Ludington and Whitehall.

More than a half dozen boats were either temporarily or entirely disabled after getting snarled-up last year in the errant nets, about nine of which were left behind when a Ludington fisherman licensed by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians was sent to prison for criminal sexual conduct.

Authorities say some of the nets have since been retrieved, but those that remain lurking in the lake pose a serious hazard to boaters.

“You get caught in a net and you’re in deep trouble,” said Dave Even, president of the Ludington Area Charter Fishing Association.

“It’ll sink your boat if you’re in rough seas.”

So far this year, the errant fishing nets, which are massive underwater structures designed to funnel fish into a live trap when they are operating properly, have not snagged any boats or otherwise caused problems.

The lack of incidents has authorities and anglers hopeful that the danger has passed, although where the remaining nets are now and just exactly how many are still out there remains a mystery.

The Little River Band, which pledged last summer to remove the nets, hired a tug boat and barge in May that located and removed five nets from the waters off Ludington, and one from the waters off Whitehall and Montague.

There are likely at least four more out there, authorities say.

“They could be in Wisconsin or moving north or south through Lake Michigan,” said Cpl. Steve Huff, a commercial fisheries enforcement officer with the DNR. “Who knows.”

At the mercy of the lake currents

Huff and others believe the significant ice build-up on Lake Michigan this past winter likely tore the remaining nets from their anchors and left them to the mercy of the lake currents.

The nets are sizable, measuring roughly 1,200 feet in length. Fishermen typically anchor them at the bottom perpendicular to the shore. The nets have large “wings” that run several hundred feet on an angle to either side, helping direct fish into a collection pod, or trap, at the back of what amounts to a large plastic maze.

An illustration of a trap fishing net. Fishermen typically anchor them to the bottom perpendicular to the shore. The nets have large "wings" that run several hundred feet on an angle to either side.Courtesy image | Michigan Sea Grant

On the surface, the nets are marked by flotation buoys — although the markers differ between net owners and are often hard to see depending on time of day, height of waves and other factors.

In the waters off Ludington and Whitehall, trap nets are primarily used by fishermen licensed by the Little River Band under a 2000 agreement between five Michigan tribes and the state and federal governments. The Consent Decree, as it’s known, regulates commercial fishing in the 1836 Treaty waters of the Great Lakes.

“There’s not really a problem to my knowledge when we have properly marked nets that are tended-to on a regular basis,” said Jim VanderMaas, president of the Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen's Association.

The nets typically cost between $5,000 and $8,000, although some Michigan fishermen were given nets for free around adoption of the new Consent Decree as a way to convert fishers to trap nets from the more controversial gill nets.

Trap nets contain about 5,000 feet of buoyant polypropylene line that floats to the surface and can snag propellers if not anchored down.

Marked nets can be navigated around, but unmarked nets pose a danger to boats that troll for fish with lines. Abandoned nets that remain anchored often draw algae, quagga and zebra mussels. Fishermen often scrape the bottom with gear in late summer, said Even, and a cable that snags a net can seriously damage a boat.

Once a net is weighted down with sea life, it becomes even more difficult to remove.

Swimmers can drown if caught in a floating net, Even said, although that's rare.

However, Huff said that twice last year, boaters swam under a disabled vessel with a knife in order to cut the net away from the propellers. It’s a dangerous way to remedy the problem, as boats rise with waves and can land on a person.

“It’s not something I’d recommend doing at all.”

Some 'bad apples'

Despite his criminal sexual conviction for touching an 11-year-old girl, tribal fisher Thomas Alan Battice — now serving 5 to 15 years in state prison — “was a good fisherman,” VanderMaas said. “He tended his nets on a regular basis.”

But Battice broke his ankle before sentencing and wasn’t able to pull his 10 nets before getting shipped off to the Muskegon Correctional Facility in August. Circuit Court Judge Richard Cooper denied Battice’s request to delay the prison term in order to pull the nets from the lake.

Thomas Alan Battice was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in state prison in Aug. 2013 after being convicted of second degree criminal sexual conduct.MDOC

A fisherman from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians attempted to pulls Battice’s nets shortly afterward, but was only able to bring in one before rough seas caused engine issues and cut the work short.

Although the net locations were marked, Huff said removing abandoned nets is a complicated process requiring special equipment for which the state must contract.

The state has authority to remove abandoned nets, but Huff said there were differences in opinion between the state and tribal government as to who was responsible for the nets off Whitehall and Ludington.

Huff marked Battice's nets as untended shortly after he went to jail, but the tribe did not get around to removing them until this year.

"When you're dealing with a sovereign nation, things get a little convoluted," he said. Legal gray areas complicate the process. Under the Consent Decree, Huff said it's not clear whether the state can sue a tribal fishermen for cost incurred in removing nets.

The state can remove nets, but "who would be responsible for the bill, that's the big question," he said. "It's taxpayer money that would be spent to remove those nets and it's a very expensive operation."

"You're dealing with some things that have never been tried," he said.

CAUGHT IN A NET?

If you’re boating and find yourself caught in a trap net, authorities say the best action is to mark your coordinates and depth with GPS technology immediately before contacting authorities.

Also, anyone observing any length of yellow polypropylene line ﬂoating loose at or just below the surface of the lake is urged to promptly call the DNR RAP line (800) 292-7800 as soon as possible.

In Mason-Oceana counties, the emergency hot line is (231) 869-5858. In the event of eminent danger of loss of life or vessel, call the U.S. Coast Guard on FM 16 or at (231) 843-2447.

If a state-licensed commercial fishermen had abandoned those nets, “we’d have them out in a week,” said Patrick Hanchin, a DNR fisheries biologist that works with the tribal coordination unit in Charlevoix.

The problem amounts to “a couple bad apples,” Hanchin said. But the Little River Band “let that issue persist for months and months.”

Battice was not the only Little River Band-licensed fisher whose trap nets have been causing problems. Ludington fisherman Levi Stone’s had as many as five nets offshore of Whitehall that have been abandoned for more than a year, said Huff.

Multiple boats were snagged on nets off Whitehall last year.

The tribe issued several statements last year during the Battice case, including one that said the tribe “had prepared a plan to retrieve his nets if he was unable to fully do so prior to his incarceration.”

The tribe's Natural Resources Department deferred new comment to public relations officials, who issued a statement saying net removal operations have been concluded and the team believes "that there are no more to be found."

'It demands a lot of time'

Huff, who is based out of Traverse City, is the only DNR commercial fisheries enforcement officer assigned to Lake Michigan. He manages an area that stretches from the Straits of Mackinac to the Illinois border.

He’s been dealing with trap net issues off Ludington and Whitehall for years, but never quite to this degree. During a time of already limited state resources, he said other lake monitoring duties are neglected while he’s busy dealing with trap nets.

The Coast Guard has helped provide boats to investigate net complaints and has flown over the area with helicopters searching for errant nets, he said. Nonetheless, Huff must dock a 36-foot boat in Ludington which he’d rather use elsewhere.

“I’ve probably spent more than half of my field hours in that area, at least,” he said. “It demands a lot of time.”

In 2020, the Consent Decree that governs fishery regulations is up for re-negotiation. Huff and others are hopeful some regulatory improvements can be worked into the document that clear up gray areas in responsibility for the remedy of trouble situations.

VanderMaas, who was involved in the 2000 decree negotiations, said he was “extremely disappointed” the Little River Band waited to remove the nets last year, but is encouraged to see the tribe finally take steps this spring.